I just come across a post on New World Notes (Link) mentioning a competition I like: a virtual architecture competition with a $5000 EURO prize.
Meltemi Editore, a publishing house based in Rome, is sponsoring a contest to design their SL office…
First submission deadline is May 20. Winning design team comes away with 5000 Euros– about $6762, or L$1,818,978.
Imagine that. A publishing house able to offer a prize that even the mighty Coca-Cola corporation doesn’t seem able to match (reLink). How embarrassing (though I’m not kidding myself into believing the people at Coca-Cola actually give a damn). If I didn’t know better, I’d venture that the Italians actually care about their product, while Coca-Cola… well, their competition speaks for itself.
For those interested, the architecture competition rules and guidelines are available online (Link). I wish I had time to be of help, but the best I can do is answer any questions people unfamiliar with Second Life might have (and I’m still a little rusty from my absence much of last year).
Hello. I work for crayon, and I’m part of the team working on the Virtual Thirst program. Sorry that it’s taken a while to get back to you on this article, but the first few days after launch were very hectic, and it’s only with the weekend that I have time to read your piece and respond.
Firstly, I want to confirm that Coca-Cola very much “give a damn”, to use your phrase. The pieces you wrote were amongst many that we talked about today. Mike Donnelly, who’s heading this project up at Coca-Cola, has taken your suggestions on board, and will be responding early next week.
In the meantime, speaking on behalf of crayon, I wanted to say that everyone on the project has spent months putting as much care into this as we could, including consulting and involving SL residents to help plan and co-ordinate it. During those sessions, most of the points you raised in this and your other posts, were brought up and discussed at great length, including what (if any) the prize should be, and the regulations involving assignment of rights.
Holding a global competition for a company the size of Coca-Cola means you end up working under certain legal restrictions that are very difficult to get around, especially if you want to allow a very flexible entry method (‘just send us an idea’) . So it’s hard to compare one competition’s rules to another.
As I say, Coca-Cola themselves will be giving you a fuller response to the points you raised, but I wanted to let you know that we’re trying to listen to what everyone is saying, and to respond as best we can.
In the meantime, I’m happy to meet any SL resident inworld to talk through the decisions – good or bad – that we made. My avatar is Gideon Television.
I look forward to hearing Mr. Donnelly’s response. If what I hear sounds genuine and reasonable I’ll change my tune.
But fair warning: if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, I’ll try to cook it.
(I certainly want to ensure I play my role in Coca-Cola’s grand experiment. It’s the least I can do.)